


Is There Somewhere

by bloobeary



Category: One Direction
Genre: Age Difference, Fingering, Highschool AU, M/M, Rimming, anal (woo), basically all of the smut tags i think, blowjob, eeeeeep, everyone is a fetus basically except harry louis and zayn kinda, harry is 18, harry swims, i guess ???, liam is a distance swimmer, lots of cute lirry, louis is 23, niall and liam also swim, niall is a backstroker, zayn has a tiny crush on liam but he cant tell
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-20
Updated: 2015-03-20
Packaged: 2018-03-17 03:51:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3514346
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bloobeary/pseuds/bloobeary
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Swimming is the only thing that has ever made Harry feel complete, but the new temp coach might just change that.</p><p>Or, Louis' got thighs Harry wants to suffocate in and he's already drowning in his eyes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Is There Somewhere

**Author's Note:**

> THIS IS SO LONG I DIDNT MEAN FOR THIS TO BE SO LONG

Harry doesn't swim because his mom has been making him do it since he was five. It's not because he is the human equivalent of a baby moose with knobbly knees on land. He doesn't swim to get into college--although that is the dream. Harry doesn't swim because the weather practically only allows for it. He doesn't swim for the medals or the physique, no. Harry swims because there is no where else he feels alive. The feel of the water rushing past him as he dives, the burn in his chest as he pushes off the wall for the last length of the race, the ache in his shoulders as he works them to their limits, stroke after stroke. And yeah, sometimes it's fun. Splashing around with team mates and goofing off at pasta parties before high school meets. Harry swims to stay alive. And it's a confusing sport, really, because most of the time he doesn't know what he's swimming for--fun, victory, or life itself. 

-

Harry's chest feels like it's going to explode when he gets to the wall, and he can't feel his legs. His fingers actually hurt from how hard he pushed them into the wall. He hears his coach speak, but he doesn't register what's said. He's too busy trying to gulp in oxygen by the globe-full. He rips his cap and goggles off, throwing them onto the pool deck with shaky arms. He takes another strained breath and rests his cheek on the cool tile of the wall. It sends shivers down his whole body, and he knows for a fact that he's red all the way down to his stomach. 

"What was that?" Harry asks, not lifting his head to speak. 

"One fifty-five seventeen. Out in a fifty nine. " Coach Adams says, and Harry can hear the pride in his voice. Harry chuckles to himself, feeling his finger tips buzz with satisfaction."Harry, you negative split something incredibly hard to negative split off the wall! Non-tapered, not shaved!" Coach continues, and Harry imagines him dancing around the pool deck. "It's going to be a good season." He says, and Harry knows he's puffing out his chest. After thirteen years, Harry can tell exactly what his coach is doing without even having to look at him, and he imagines it works both ways. 

"Don't forget to warm down!" Coach calls, and Harry hears the door to his office open and shut. Finally, Harry has the strength to grab his goggles and do a lazy hundred backstroke. 

He's putting his kick-board and pull buoy back into his grab bag when he hears the office door open. He turns around, expecting Niall or Liam to come prancing out onto the pool deck, since it was nearly time for school to start, but instead, Coach walks out, followed by a man Harry has never seen before. He's shorter than Coach Adams, probably an inch or two, and has the best legs Harry has ever seen. Breaststroker probably, Harry thinks, hopefully, they need more of those. Harry assumes the person talking to Coach is in high school, until Coach moves slightly, and Harry gets a full view of his face--and in fact, Harry has seen him before. He has to bite his lip. His eyes, incredibly blue, are hiding behind square framed glasses, resting along cheekbones that Harry just desperately wants to lick. There's scruff lining his jaw, framing pink lips perfectly. Harry's staring. The man has noticed. Harry curses to himself and snaps out of his reverie, tightening his grip on his mesh bag before turning on his heels and stalking to the locker room. 

"Who was that?" Louis asks Coach Adams as Harry walks away. God, the boy's legs went on forever. It's like he's trying to kill Louis in his bright yellow speedo.

"Who?" Coach asks before realizing that he must've been talking about the only other person on the pool deck at that time. "Oh, that was Harry Styles." He says somewhat proudly, and Louis turns his head to the side, imploring him to continue. "He's a senior this year, captain, too. He's current holder of two school records, and seconds away from breaking another." 

"So he's basically the lifeblood of this team." Louis chuckles, and pushes his glasses back up his nose. 

Coach Adams laughs. "Not exactly, but he does a great job." 

"That why he's the only one here?" Louis asks, genuinely curious as to why a senior would even bother getting out of bed on the first day of school, let alone at five in the morning. 

"Well, he does club too. Besides, he doesn't have a first block so it's not like he's rushed or anything." Coach scratches his salt and pepper beard twice before wiping the sweat off his forehead. It was bloody fucking hot out. "Anyways, Louis, thank you so much for coming in on such short notice--" 

"Don't mention it, coach." Louis says, giving his former coach a warm smile. 

"C'mon now, you don't have to call me that. Not now that you're a coach yourself." Adams says, clapping his hand on Louis' shoulder. 

"Old habits die hard." Louis says, which earns him a big smile. 

"Right. I suppose you're still going to want to swim in lane one." He chuckles, and Louis shrugs. 

"Might actually get in the pool sometimes, see how well my old bones remember the water." Louis says, not mentioning that he'd actually continued swimming even after he was finished with college. It was probably something he should mention to his former coach, but he shrugs it off. 

"I'm sure it'll all come back." Coach says, looking down at Louis fondly. "I'll see you at three?" 

"Yeah, course. I'll be here." Louis smiles at him before shoving his hands in his pockets and walking out the gate.  
-  
Harry's asleep on the couch in the guard room when he feels a pressure on his chest. His first immediate thought is that he's having some sort of spontaneous asthma attack, and tries to sit up, but can't. He looks up at Niall, who's grinning triumphantly from his perch on Harry's chest. 

"Niall," Harry wheezes, wrestling his arm free from under him and shoving him off. 

"Morning, captain." Niall says, his Irish timbre ringing through the room, skipping around to the side of the couch and looking down into Harry's sleep muddled face. "Or afternoon I should say. How many classes do you have anyways, mate?" 

Harry groans and rubs his eyes. Being woken up from a nap is definitely not number one on his list of things he likes, but it will get you a one way ticket to number one on his shit list. Especially after just having come back from the gym. Harry just holds up two fingers and turns over onto his side, so he's facing the back of the couch. 

"Lucky bastard." Niall mumbles before pulling on one of Harry's curls. Harry growls and bats at Niall blindly. "Get up, Harry." He whines, poking at Harry's sides uselessly. "We've got some freshmen to terrorize." Harry opens one eye, and sees Niall grinning his famous shit eating grin. 

"Niall, mate, if you don't stop talking I swear to god I'm going to staple your tongue to the pacing hand on the clock." Harry mumbles darkly, and Niall pretends to gasp. 

"Well, Coach is calling bleachers like, five minutes ago, so I suggest you get your lazy arse up and out on the deck." Niall says before Harry hears him walk out. Harry groans exasperatedly and rolls onto his back. 

"Fucking Niall with his fucking cheerfulness and fucking blondness." Harry grumbles, sitting up and grabbing his phone before walking out the office door and onto the bright deck. He holds a hand over his eyes while he trudges to the bleachers, letting his muscles wake up. 

"HARRY" Liam bellows and in seconds has his arms around Harry's waist, making them both stumble backwards. 

"Hello, Liam." Harry chuckles, dropping his hand to return the hug. 

"Oh, alright, he gets a hug, but you yell at me. Nice, alright, I get it." Niall whines, and Harry glares at him. 

"That's because he didn't try to kill me while I was sleeping, you fucking prick." Harry says, and Niall frowns. "Come here, asshole." Harry sighs finally, holding his other arm open for Niall. Niall smiles and tucks himself into Harry's chest. "I'm a Niam sandwich." Harry says, and they all laugh. 

Coach Adams is smiling fondly at them from the bleachers, and the rest of the team is staring at them. Not all of them, just the new ones who aren't used to the three's closeness. Harry counts about thirteen new faces. Add that to the few more that'll trickle in as the year progresses. 

"Alright, let go of me, it's too hot for this." Harry says, worming his way out of their grip, already feeling sweaty in the infernal sun. "Let's go make swimming sound doable, yeah?" Liam and Niall smile back at him, and they all walk to the bleachers. 

"Now that you three have decided to grace us with your presence," Coach says, giving them a look that was meant to be threatening, but radiated affection instead. Niall fake-gags, and Liam groans. Harry just smiles broadly back at him. "I've already gone through the whole intro section while your captain here was sleeping his days away." Harry rolls his eyes. "I've got some news, however." 

"Pizza parties all the time!" Niall hollers, and everyone laughs. 

"No, Niall." Coach says, laughing. He grabs his whistle, and Harry frowns. "I regret to inform you that I will not be your coach this season." He says, looking directly at Harry. His mouth drops, and he wants to scream and cry all at the same time. "There's been an emergency at home, and well, I simply can't stay here." Harry can't breathe. "But I should be back in time for states." He looks at Harry again, who's trying his best not to let his lip tremble. "I've found someone to take my place, however. He used to swim for me, great man. You'll like him. Of course, I'll still be checking in, and helping out with meets and practices." He says something else before checking his clock. There's a few seconds of silence. 

Harry stands up at that, gives Coach Adams a sharp look and walks away. He hears Niall call his name, but he doesn't turn around. It wasn't his idea of a perfect first day of season, but Harry has to do something with all of the rage and confusion bubbling inside him. He sits down on the benches in the boy's locker room and puts his hands over his face. 

It's just a lot to wrap his mind around. The coach who had trained him for the past thirteen years, the man that taught him how to love swimming, the one person who always believed Harry could push himself harder, was leaving for what was arguably the most important season of Harry's life. He doesn't know when he starts crying, or when Liam walks in, but he finds himself with his face in Liam's neck, and hands in his straightened hair. Harry really doesn't know why Liam even bother to straighten his curls out, given the fact that they'll just get wet later, but the boy likes it, so.

"It's not that bad, Haz..." Liam says calmly, "It's not like he's leaving forever." Harry can't even begin to make sense of his words. "You have his mobile, yeah? You can still call him." Liam runs a hand over Harry's back. "And the new coach, is like, incredibly fit." Harry laughs wetly at that. 

"Now come on, you big baby." Liam says, jabbing at Harry's side. "We're doing the circle, and then we're running." 

Harry sighs and wipes away the wet from under his eyes. Liam smiles at him and runs his fingers under Harry's eyes for good measure, like a typical mother hen. "Gave the freshies quite a scare, yeah?" Liam chuckles as they walk out towards the already formed circle. "They were all 'oh my god why is he leaving?' and Niall had to make up some bullshit to cover it up." Harry laughs at that, and feels kind of bad for leaving like a five year old who didn't get their way. 

They get to the circle, and he gives Coach a long look before nodding. Coach puts a hand on his back and smiles. "Alright, let's get started, shall we? Harry, you go." 

Harry sighs and looks around the circle. "I'm Harry, I'm a senior and I didn't choose the distance life, and it certainly didn't choose me either." Niall cackles at that, and he gets a few shy laughs from the newbies. 

"'M Niall, I'm Irish, if you couldn't already tell, and I can eat a whole pizza by myself." He says it proudly, as if it's something abnormal for a swimmer to do. "Oh, and that means you all have to kiss me on Saint Paddies' day, regardless of where you are." He pipes up, and Coach says his name sternly. 

Liam steps up, his expression the equivalent of an excited puppy. "Hi guys! I'm Liam, I'm a junior and I spent the first thirteen years of my life thinking I only had one kidney." Harry laughs at that, because he remember the exact look on Liam's face when his parents told him that he in fact, had two kidneys. 

The rest of the circle continues, and Harry can finally start putting names to faces now. It's when the last person in the circle steps up that Harry's heart stops. It's the same guy from the morning, and Harry can't breathe. "Hello, I'm Louis, uh, your new temp coach--you can call me Coach Tomlinson, or anything that works, I guess. And, my name is up there on the records board for the two hundred breast." He says that with a smile that nearly makes Harry fall over. So that's where Harry knows him from. Of course, he looks so much different now than he did when he was in high school, and Harry was like, eleven. Louis looks over at Harry, and gives him a small smile. Oh, this is not going to work, not at all.  
-  
"Fuck this." Harry groans as Louis reads the set (obviously joking, he's still going to do it). Of course, it's just when everyone decides to go silent, so he definitely hears. Louis looks down at him with a frown. 

"Out." He says, pointing at Harry, and then at the deck before going back to the paper. 

"You've done it now, mate." Niall chuckles, and Harry pinches his nipple in revenge. Harry pulls himself out of the water just as Louis calls the set off. Harry sits on the block and crosses his arms. 

"I know you've got like a rule about cursing so. Twenty five." Louis says, flicking his hair out of his face, looking at Harry expectantly. Harry sighs and drops onto the deck, letting his body take over. His arms are quivering by the time he's done, and he's missed two of the hundreds fly he actually wanted to do. 

Harry stands up and sneaks a look at Louis. He's not being as subtle as Harry, because his bottom lip is pulled between his teeth. "Right then." Louis coughs and cocks his head at the pool. Harry just nods and pulls his goggles back on before diving into the pool in time to catch the third hundred. 

Harry's the last one out of the pool, and the only one who actually finished the warm down. Admittedly, he did spend more time blowing bubble rings from the bottom of the pool than he should've but whatever, he's upset. He gets out of the pool, running his hands through his hair a few times to get most of the water out before gathering his stuff and walking to the showers. He knows it's completely redundant to shower now, since he's coming back to the pool again in less than twelve hours, but the hot water feels good on his muscles. 

"So?" Niall asks, pressing his back against the wall while Liam takes the shower head from him. 

"So what?" Harry asks with a sigh, stepping under the other shower. 

"So do you think you're going to fuck him." Niall says, referring to Louis, and Harry chokes on his own spit. 

"I'm going to kill you." Harry says, and Niall's already running away when Harry pelts him with his water bottle. 

"Please don't hurt me but like, he's cute, yeah?" Liam says quietly, and Harry sighs. 

"Yeah." He says finally before getting his towel. 

He makes the mistake of walking through the office to get to his car. 

"Harry." Louis says, and Harry looks down at him. He's in Coach's chair, and Harry can't hold back his frown. "I know you probably like, hate me or something, but I promise I'm not going to mess up your swimming career. Coach Adams is proud of you, and he has really high hopes for you...He's not leaving you--the team, willingly." Louis explains, keeping eye contact with Harry the whole time. Harry feels like he's drowning in his eyes, and it's extremely unfair.

Harry sighs. "I'll see you in the morning." 

-

It's the fifth meet of the season where Harry and Louis finally click. They're swimming North Lake, and Harry's hands haven't been able to stop shaking since the night before. He jitters his way through his two classes at school, and then goes back home to do some breathing exercises before returning to the pool. Harry's usually not nervous, he's not the nervous type. He's one to trust his body and his training, and let the race swim itself. But not this time, not against North Lake. 

It's when, without thinking, Harry bursts into the office, expecting to find Coach Adams, that they finally make peace with the situation. Or at least Harry does. It's not even like Harry doesn't like Louis--it's quite the opposite. He finds himself thinking about the guy at totally inappropriate times, like in his anatomy class, especially when they talk about flexibility, and he finds himself wondering if Louis can still spread his legs as wide as he could when he swam breaststroke. It's not Harry's fault that Louis has a spectacular ass and likes to wear fitting shorts. It's not at all. The thing is that Harry can't help but feel a little betrayed, is all.

Harry tries not to stare, but he does it anyways. 

"Uh, hi." Harry says, surprised to be looking into Louis' blue eyes instead of his coach's brown ones. "Sorry, I--" 

"What's wrong?" Louis asks, concern pushing it's way through his words. Harry sighs and points at the other chair in the office, raising an eyebrow. Louis nods and Harry takes a seat in old chair. "Talk to me." Louis urges, and Harry sees him reach his hand out before jerking it back. 

"Logan Holland." Harry spits out like poison, and Louis sighs. "He's fast," Harry manages ultimately, shrugging. 

"Yeah, and?" Louis presses, and Harry groans. 

"And I'm nervous, okay?" 

"It's normal to be nervous, Harry." Louis says quietly, and Harry looks up at him. 

"I know but, Logan's always my biggest competition. And Coach and I talked about this meet months before season even began and I just. I need to win." Harry rambles on about it, and finds Louis looking at him with a little smile playing on his lips. "What?" Harry asks, indignant. 

"You know what Logan went at their last meet in the hundred fly?" Louis asks, and Harry shakes his head. "Fifty nine twenty four." Louis doesn't even need to check anything to know that. Harry wonders why he knows Logan's times so well. Maybe Coach had already talked to him about it. "And double-oh in the two free." Harry chews on his bottom lip. "Harry, you went faster than that off the wall this morning." Louis chuckles finally and this time really puts his hand on Harry's knee. 

Harry thinks going to kiss him, he really does. But there's a tiny (colossal) problem with that, so he sits on his hands and squeezes his thighs instead. "Okay," He breathes, and Louis smiles. 

"I still want you to swim like he's on your ass, though. Don't let the confidence win you over." Louis says, squeezing Harry's knee in a way that makes sparks shoot up his spine. "You'll do great, I know it." Louis adds quietly, and Harry beams at him. 

They spend five minutes looking at each other before a freshman--Lisa, Harry thinks--bursts through the door. "Oh, um, sorry." She mutters, and Louis snatches his hand away even though she can't see it from the doorway. "I just. Uh, I need a cap." She squeaks, and Louis coughs before opening a drawer and pulling out a black silicone one. "Thank you." She mutters before practically sprinting out the door. 

"Go warm up." Louis says to Harry before swiveling away from him and opening up a document on his computer, all of the--well, whatever that was-- from the moment before fading away. Harry nods even though Louis can't see him and walks out on deck.

Louis waits until Harry's gone to hide his face in his hands. He doesn't know what to do with the pain in his chest roughly the size of a grapefruit also known as affection for Harry. And he knows it's wildly inappropriate, but he can't help but be mesmerized by the way Harry's arms move through the water, how the muscles tighten as he swims butterfly, and the way his dimples bore holes into his cheeks, and how he always tells a stupid joke while he's leading stretches. It's gross. He needs to stop this, immediately. 

He thinks he has it under control. Until Harry literally crushes Logan in both the hundred fly and the two hundred free, coming in three seconds before him. Harry gets out of the water on shaky legs with a huge smile on his face that make his dimples drill into his cheeks, accepting hugs from Niall and Liam and a few more team mates before making his way over to Louis. 

Louis mumbles a good job, putting his hand on Harry's back. And oh, god, how he wants to kiss him in that moment. They come close, very close to it, but Harry just moves his head into Louis' neck as they hug quickly. Louis coughs and tries to get his breathing under control again while reading off Harry's splits. 

"Thank you." Harry says, his voice still shaky. Louis looks up at him and the look on Harry's face nearly sends him falling over because it is so open and full of affection. 

"It was all you, Haz." Louis says, putting his hand on Harry's arm, squeezing his bicep softly. They stare for a second before Louis remembers to do his job when he feels Harry's muscle twitch under his hand. "Go cool down." 

They smile at each other and bump shoulders softly before they walk their separate ways the next morning. And if they find little excuses to touch each other when other people aren't looking, then no one really needs to know.  
-  
Liam's asleep across Harry's lap on the way back from their travel meet in Miami, and Niall is passed out in his own seat, his mouth hanging open in complete exhaustion. Harry just smiles and puts his hand on Liam's shoulder before resting his head on the back of the seat. That's when he catches Louis' eye, and uncontrollably breaks out into a smile. Louis smiles back, and he swears he blushes, but Louis turns away too quick for him to really tell. Harry's the last one off the bus, well, besides Louis, so that gives them a second to just soak each other up. 

Harry presses his hand into Louis' hip while walking past him, and Louis feels like he's going to die if he doesn't get to kiss Harry any time soon.  
-  
It's two weeks before Districts, and Harry's making his way to the showers when Louis catches his wrist. Harry tries not to jump, and looks into Louis' eyes, that at this moment look the same color as the pool. 

"Coach called." Louis says, and Harry raises his eyebrows. "Says his sister's doing fine. But uh, he also wanted me to tape you swimming. He says you don't finish your stroke all the way--which I've noticed, by the way--and you need to watch yourself in order to fix it." 

"Okay," Harry says lamely, and nods. "Yeah, we can--I can stay." Harry stumbles over his words and nods. Louis' still holding onto his wrist. 

"Right, I'll get the stuff set up." Louis says, giving Harry a last look before letting go of his hand and walking away. Harry only realizes he's been staring when Niall whistles from the shower. Harry makes sure Louis' in the office before flipping Niall off. 

Roughly forty minutes later, they're sitting in the office, watching the four ten second clips on the computer over and over again. Louis keeps pausing and pointing out little things about Harry's stroke, and they're not always negative. "Good hips." He says, slowing over the section where Harry does his streamline.

"Yeah." Harry says, and he is definitely not thinking about the other practical uses for his hip motion. Louis coughs, fidgeting in his seat, and moves on to the next video. 

"Aha! Here we go." Louis says, perking up and pausing the video. "You need to flick your wrist right here." He jabs at where Harry's hand is hanging limply in the water. "It'll give you more distance per stroke and you won't have to work as hard to go as fast." Louis says, and Harry knows all of this, but Louis looks so excited that he just nods. 

"Here, just." Louis says, grabbing Harry's arm and extending it behind him. He runs his hands gently over his forearm, and over his wrist to cup his hand. "Just flip it up." Louis mutters, guiding Harry through the motion. Harry nods, but all he can think about are Louis' hands, Louis' hands on his skin. "And uh, when you come back in..." Louis moves Harry's arm back to the front, grabbing the other and moving Harry's arms so that his elbows are stuck out to the side. He moves them in an hour glass shape, his hands going to hold Harry's. "Just make sure to do it like that." Louis says after having moved Harry's limbs around like a puppeteer. He drops his hands into his lap, and Louis' still holding them. 

"Um." Louis starts, looking back at the screen. "We'll work on it more tomorrow." He coughs, but makes no move to take his hands away. Harry just nods, because there's a lump in his throat the size of a tennis ball. Everyone else is gone, the gate is locked, even. It's just the two of them. Harry moves his hands so that their fingers are slotted together, and Louis gives them a squeeze. 

The air is crackling with silence, deafening even. Harry's eyes have been on Louis' lips for the past two minutes when Louis says his name. Harry hums his response and looks up at him. 

"I don't--" He starts, and Harry throws caution to the wind when he leans in to crash his lips onto Louis'. Louis makes a surprised noise before sliding his hands into Harry's hair. Harry grabs at Louis' hips greedily, trying to pull him closer, but failing since the chairs keep rolling around. Harry runs his tongue over Louis' bottom lip, and he opens his mouth pliantly. Harry directs his tongue against Louis', whining into his mouth. 

Harry's phone ringing is what tears them apart. "Fuck." Harry grumbles, sliding his thumb across the screen. "Hi mom." He says, shooting Louis an awkward glance. "Yeah, I'll be right home. Yeah, Lou--Coach Tomlinson wanted to work on my stroke. Okay, great. Love you too." He says, and hangs up. He leans in to kiss Louis again, and Louis pulls away.

"Harry." Louis says, giving him a pained look. Harry frowns, because he knows where this is going. "We can't do this." 

"I know." Harry mumbles, looking down at his hands. "Sorry." He says curtly, standing up. 

"No, Harry," Louis sighs, grabbing Harry's hand and standing up too. "I--I wanted to kiss you, yeah? It's just. Not the best time." Louis mumbles, running his fingers over Harry's knuckles. 

"Yeah." Harry says, cupping Louis' cheeks with his hands and running his thumbs over his perfect cheek bones softly. "I know." Harry breathes, pressing his forehead against Louis'. "You're just. Fucking breathtaking." Harry murmurs, and Louis sighs. 

"D'you think it's easy for me to see you in a tiny speedo every day?" Louis says, grabbing Harry's hips and pulling him closer. He smells like chlorine, and Louis loves it. "I can't tell you how much time I spend thinking about why the hell you have leaves tattooed on your hips," Harry laughs and mumbles something about them being pretty before dipping in to kiss Louis again. "Harry," Louis whines again. "Stop doing that." Louis frowns, and Harry sighs. 

"Okay." Harry nods and drops his hands. "Okay." He repeats and they just look at each other. 

"I'll see you tomorrow."  
\- 

It's eleven forty five on a Wednesday, and Harry's done with his classes for the day. He could go home, but he doesn't think he has enough gas to make two trips, and he's all too lazy to go pump some, so instead, he uses the key to the guard room Coach gave him for "emergencies" and lets himself in. He locks the door behind him and spreads out on the couch. Naps definitely count as a valid reason to use his key.

He's almost asleep when he hears the office door open, and someone walks in singing. Louis, Louis walks in singing, his brain corrects, and Harry can feel his heart beat escalate exponentially.

"Oh." He hears Louis gasp, and only then does he open his eyes. "How...? I thought I locked it." Louis stutters, pointing at the door and then looking back down to Harry.

Harry can't breathe because Louis' hair is wet and he's in a black square cut Speedo that fits all too well with a towel around his neck, and Harry thinks he's actually going to die. "Uh, you did. I have a key." Harry stutters, sitting up.

"Oh." Louis says again, and they just stand in silence.

"No one else does, if you're wondering, um. It's just me. And I locked the door behind me." Harry says, squeezing the underside of his thighs tightly.

"Right." Louis nods, and walks around the back of the couch, trailing his fingers over Harry's collarbone softly. Harry tilts his head back so that he's looking straight up at Louis. He smiles down at him and puts his hands on either side of Harry's face before leaning down to press a soft kiss to his nose. Harry whines and grabs at Louis' neck, pulling him down for a proper kiss. Louis chuckles and pulls away, patting Harry's cheeks softly. Harry sighs and gets up on his knees so that he's facing Louis, and wraps his arms around Louis' waist, pulling him as close as the back of the couch allows.

"Hi," Louis says softly, running his fingers through Harrys hair while Harry's face is pressed into his neck. Harry never wants to leave this position, because he can feel Louis' pulse with his lips, and it matches his own. "Sweetheart, I'm getting you all wet." Louis mumbles, noticing the darkening spots on Harry's sleeves.

"Don't care." Harry mumbles, nuzzling into Louis' neck. Louis smiles and tilts his head so that he can fit his lips under Harry's.

"I'm going to go change, yeah?" Louis says, pushing Harry's curls off his forehead. "Then they need me at the complex, to set up for this weekend." Louis says, and Harry frowns. "You can stay, as long as you don't trash the place." Louis says only half jokingly.

Harry just rolls his eyes and kisses Louis' collarbone softly. "I won't let Niall in, if that's what you mean."

Louis laughs through his nose and pokes at Harry's dimple before prying himself loose and walking back into the office. How his ass fits into a speedo will forever be beyond Harry. The door shuts, and he collapses onto the the couch in defeat. It takes Louis roughly ten minutes to get dressed, and he leaves with only a soft 'see you later'. Harry wants to cry and scream all at the same time, but he can't, because he understands where Louis is coming from. So he just resigns himself to sighing and trying to resume his nap.

-

"Hello?" Louis answers, he sounds tired.

"Hi," Harry whispers, rolling onto his back.

"Harry? Is there something wrong?" Louis asks, his voice going up an octave. He gets that, because this is the first time he's called Louis for something not related to the swim team.

"No, everything's alright." Harry mumbles, and then looks over at his clock. 10:37 blinks red at him.

"Oh," Louis breathes, and Harry hears him fall back onto some pillows.

"So I was thinking, about what you said about my tattoos." Harry says, running his fingers over his hips. Louis makes a soft noise of acknowledgement. "I got them on my eighteenth birthday." Louis interrupts to ask when it is. "July twelfth. Anyways, I was between these or two sparrows on my chest, but...those would've kept me out of the water longer." Harry explains. "I like how they're just kind of for me, you know? Like they barely poke out of my suits so, it's not like they're very open and out there."

"God," Louis breathes, and Harry chuckles. "You are so--wow." Louis murmurs softly, and Harry desperately wants to be next to him.

"Likewise." Harry returns, and they just sit in perpetual silence, listening to each other breathe.

"What about yours?" Harry asks after a bit, and he can practically hear Louis smile.

"It is what it is." Louis says, and Harry laughs. "It was pretty." They leave it at that.

"Do you have any more?" Harry asks quietly, and he can practically hear Louis roll his eyes.

"Yeah, I have the stag, on my arm--it's my favorite, actually--and some lyrics on my ribcage, oh and one more, but I'll only tell you if you promise not to laugh." Louis says sternly, and Harry promises. "I have a cake on my ass." Harry chokes on his own breath, and Louis chastises him for breaking his promise. 

"No! I'm not laughing," Harry says once he can actually make words. "It's just. Why?"

Louis laughs, and Harry imagines his eyes are doing that cute little crinkly thing. "My friend and I were drunk and we decided to go to our mutual friend's tattoo parlor and he was all 'Tommo, get one!' and of course, I didn't want to be the wet blanket, so I agreed. He suggested it--said something about 'me already having dat cake'--I don't remember a lot more." Louis chuckles, and Harry doesn't know who this 'friend' is, but he can feel the jealousy rippling under his skin. "I remember waking up with a headache and an inability to sit down." 

Harry really frowns there, and Louis must've read his mind. "The answer is no, if you're thinking about what I think you might be." Louis says quietly, and Harry breathes a sigh of relief.

"So is it like a whole cake, or a slice?" Harry can feel his eyes closing, and he hopes he doesn't fall asleep mid-conversation.

"It's like the emoji cake. It's not that big, probably like two inches, less than that even." Louis says, "You'll see," Harry chokes again, his eyes flying open, and Louis curses. "I--um. Yeah." There's a few moments filled with deafening silence until one of them speaks.

"See you tomorrow."

-  
Districts comes around, and Harry gets first in everything he swims. He's done considerably early, since all his events happened relatively at the beginning of the meet, so he's sitting with his arm around Nick--a swimmer from somewhere up north, Harry wants to say it's Gainesville, but he's not sure. They've met before, so it's not weird for Harry to be with him (honestly, he doesn't want to be around his team at the moment because it's a painful reminder of why he can't just kiss Louis whenever he pleases). The announcer calls the ten minute break, and everyone falls away from the pool. His eyes find Louis almost as if he's what Harry'd been looking for in the first place (to be completely truthful, he kind of was). He's talking to an official by lane one.

"Harry, I asked you a question." Nick says, poking at his side. 

"Sorry." Harry laughs, looking back at him. Their faces are close together. Close enough to count his eyelashes if he wanted to. But he doesn't want to. The only eyelashes he wants to count are Louis'. "Come again?" 

"I asked if you were done." Nick says, and Harry nods. "Wanna grab something to eat then, for dinner?" Nick asks quietly, and Harry feels like it's a date, and he pulls his arm away.

Something about that makes him feel queasy, and it only increases when he notices Louis glaring at them from across the deck. "Sorry, mate. I've got uh, it's a team thing--tradition, kind of." Harry shrugs, and Nick nods almost dejectedly. 

"Yeah, I get it." Nick says, his smile appearing again. 

That's when Louis decides to intervene. "Harry, may I talk to you?" Louis snaps, crossing his arms over his chest. 

"Yeah, uh." Harry nearly jumps up and doesn't even look back at Nick while he follows Louis. They're behind the lifeguard stand--out of sight. 

"What the fuck." Louis hisses, and Harry furrows his eyebrows. 

"Louis, we're not exactly together." Harry tries to sound piqued, but he can't, and his words come out soft and sad. "You made it clear." Harry looks down at his feet. 

"I know, but. That doesn't mean I like sharing you." Louis says, putting his hand on Harry's hip softly. He's being incredibly selfish, making Harry wait for him like this, and he knows it. His fingers press into Harry's cold and still slightly wet skin, making Harry shiver. "And you know I would, you know, be with you if I wasn't your coach, yeah?" Harry laughs at that. "I'm sorry I'm being so shitty, but I--I can't keep myself away from you." Louis whispers.

"I know, yeah." Harry looks up at Louis and smiles. "And for the record, I don't like sharing either." Harry says, closing the space between them so that Louis' pressed against the back of the stand. Harry checks that there's no one around before pressing a soft kiss to Louis' lips and Louis squeezes Harry's hip. Louis pulls away to kiss under Harry's jaw and along his collarbones, his tongue picking up any extra water that was there. Harry's breath hitches in his throat and he just presses against Louis harder. Harry's whole body is on fire despite the slight breeze that's blowing, and he knows it's all Louis.

"I should, um--" Louis stutters, pulling away. "You know, yeah." He tries to make sense of his words, but resigns to just smiling at Harry and trying to slip away. 

"Wait, Louis." Harry says, catching his wrist. He looks down at Louis with big green eyes, and Louis hums his response. "I can't--I can't keep doing this. Sometimes you're with me, and others you're completely distant, and I get where you're coming from, but it fucking hurts to watch you walk away and not know if you're going to come back." Harry says, and he's aware that his voice starts shaking, but he doesn't care.

Louis sighs and puts his hand on Harry's neck. "I'm not going anywhere." He whispers and pecks Harry's cheek softly before walking back to the coaches' tents. He gives Harry a last smile over his shoulder, and Harry bites his lip. He runs his hands over his face to try and regain his composure before going back out to their tent.

He finds Niall, but Liam is no where to be found. "Oi, mate!" Niall calls, waving Harry furiously over. 

"What's up?" Harry asks, walking faster, and Niall points to the stands. Harry finds Liam sitting next to someone only vaguely familiar on the bleachers. Harry's mouth drops. "Who is that?" 

"Zayn bloody Malik!" Niall nearly screams. It all clicks into place then, and Harry realizes that's the same person who's friends' spray painted in the locker rooms. That nearly fucked everything up for the swim team as a whole. The asshole never got caught, of course, his friends just took the fall for him. "What the fuck are they doing together? What is he doing here?" Niall asks to no one in particular. Zayn's wearing all black. "What kind of pretentious dick head wears black jeans and a leather jacket to a swim meet, in Florida, in October?" Niall mutters angrily, and Harry chuckles.

Harry doesn't know what to say, but suddenly Zayn's hand is on Liam's knee, and Harry actually contemplates going over there and ripping his perfectly coifed hair right out of his scalp.

"Oh I'll fucking kill him, don't think I won't do it!" Niall seethes and goes to rip Zayn's throat out when Harry grabs his shoulder, holding him back. 

"Look, Liam's leaving." Harry says when Liam stands up and makes his way back over to their tent. 

"WHAT THE FUCK LIAM!" Naill yells when Liam reaches them, and Liam flinches. 

"He's nice." Liam says with a shrug and goes to rummage through his swim bag. 

"He's nice." Niall mimics. "Yeah I fucking bet he is." Niall says with a dramatic roll of his eyes. 

"Look, Niall, shut the hell up. I don't want to talk about it, okay?" Liam says with a sigh, and Niall frowns. 

"Sorry mate, it's just. Sorry." Niall says, putting his hand on Liam's shoulder awkwardly before muttering something about warming up, and grabbing his goggles. 

Harry just looks at Liam with his hands across his chest. Liam sighs and sits down. "He's in my lang class. He actually is nice." Liam explains while picking at the sticky edge of his fast skin. 

"Stop doing that." Harry says, pulling his hand away from the suit and holding it in his own. "You'll ruin it, and then your mom will kill you." Liam laughs and looks up at Harry with those big brown doe eyes Harry loves so much. 

"Yeah." Liam nods and gives Harry's hand a squeeze, slipping their fingers together. "So how's it going...you know, with Louis?" Liam drops his tone given that they're surrounded by other team mates who are oblivious to it all. 

"I...It's--complicated." Harry frowns, and looks down at his knees. "It's mutual though, we've discussed it." 

"Good." Liam says, nodding and pressing his shoulder against Harry's. "After season's over, maybe?" 

"Maybe." Harry breathes. 

-  


Harry's sitting on the couch in the guard room, scrolling through twitter absently, when Liam bursts through the door. Harry looks up and sees him place a piece of paper on the table before taking his bag off his shoulder and dropping it on the ground. He grabs the scrap of paper tenderly and pulls out his phone before sitting next to Harry.

"What?" Harry asks, a smile already playing on his lips. Liam just smiles and shrugs before typing the number off the paper into his phone. He labels the contact "Z" before folding the piece of paper and slipping it into the back of his case. "Oh my god," Harry laughs, and Liam blushes a violent shade of red. "Are you guys going on a date?" Harry pokes at Liam's leg, and Liam just hides his face in Harry's neck.

"No, we're meeting up after practice to study for our english test." Liam says, and Harry giggles. He throws his arm over Liam's shoulders.

"Just the both of you?" Liam nods, and Harry laughs again. "Then it's a date."

"No it's not!" Liam protests and looks up only to pull at one of Harry's curls harshly.

"Oh for god's sake, the guy showed up to your swim meet before you even exchanged numbers. It's definitely a date." Harry says, and they leave it at that. Liam sighs and squeezes Harry's hand around his shoulders once, and sticks his tongue out at him.

Harry smiles and tugs on a piece of hair by Liam's ear. "You should leave your hair natural more often." Harry says, and Liam goes to say something back, but they're interrupted by a cough.

"If you've quite finished, we're waiting on you for stretches." Louis says dryly from the office door and turns on his heels to walk away.

Harry sighs deeply and stands up, pulling Liam up with him. Liam gives him a look, and Harry just shakes his head, because he knows this'll come up sooner or later.

-

Harry grabs for his phone to stop the infernal ringing, and presses it to his face, not bothering to look at who's calling. "Hello?" He mumbles, rolling onto his back and rubbing his eyes.

"Were you sleeping?" Louis asks, and Harry immediately smiles.

"No," Harry lies, and Louis laughs, because he can tell.

"Sorry I woke you." Louis mumbles, and Harry shakes his head despite the fact that Louis can't see him.

"No, it's alright." Harry pulls his blanket up tighter around his neck. "I like hearing your voice."

He can nearly hear Louis smiling through the phone, and his chest actually hurts. "I just wanted to ask you something." Louis murmurs, and Harry hums in approval. "Okay, are you and Liam like...a thing?" Louis nearly squeaks, and Harry laughs so loud he fears he's woken his mom. "Well now I feel dumb." 

Harry giggles again, "No, god no, not at all. We've been friends since we were toddlers." Harry says, looking at the picture of him and Liam when they were in elementary school framed on his night table. "Why'd you ask?"

"I just see the way you guys are towards each other." Louis says, and Harry rolls onto his side. "It seems like something went down between you, is all."

"Awww, are you jealous?" Harry coos, and Louis doesn't say anything back. Harry coughs. "No, well, I mean, we've kissed? Like two or three times. But nothing past that I swear." Harry mumbles, rubbing his wrist nervously. 

"Tell me about it," Louis encourages, and Harry debates going into the story at all, but Louis' voice sounds strained, "It'll make me feel better if I know. Please, love?" And there's the ticket. (Harry hopes he'll be able to hear Louis say that word a million times over, in several other circumstances for the rest of his life.)

"Okay, well," Harry thinks where to start, and rolls over onto his back. "We were at this party, I was sixteen, Liam was fifteen, and like this was when he was still struggling with the idea of actually being gay or bi or whatever," Harry tries not to think about the fact that he'd just unintentionally outed Liam without his knowledge, "and like, we went to my house after, cos my parent's weren't home, and we had several illegal substances in our bodies, and Liam just starts crying, like bursts into tears on my bed." Harry says, rubbing his eyes in an attempt to keep himself awake. "He blubbered something about 'not knowing who he was' and 'being scared' of something" Harry makes the air quotes with his hand even though Louis can't see him. "And I was half drunk so I like sat next to him, and pulled him in really close, and I think I told him something along the lines of 'i love you man, no matter what' and then we kissed. Well, I kissed him." Harry says, finally stopping to exhale. "And then we both started crying I think. I dunno, it was crazy." Louis laughs at that, and Harry really, really wants to kiss his face.

"Okay." Louis says, exhaling. "I meant what I said, yeah? About not being the best sharer." That gives Harry a fuzzy feeling in his chest that he never wants to go away.

"So did I."

-  
They swim a fantastic Regional championship a week and a half later. Their boy's team won for the first time in three years, and when Harry walks up to receive the trophy, he catches Louis looking at him with the biggest smile he's ever seen him produce before. They take a team picture sometime after that, and Harry's standing with his arm around Lucile's waist front and center, like the photographer wanted the captains to be. That's when he notices Louis practically radiating jealousy from farther off, and Harry sneaks him a wink. 

Harry can't really feel his hands when they get back to the hotel. He trudges up to his room and fumbles for his key when he hears a cough. "Hi." Louis says from next to him, and Harry whips his head up. 

"You're--the room next to mine?" Harry says, his mouth hanging open. 

"Seems like it." Louis says quietly, smiling before opening his door and stepping inside.

Harry's left confused at that, so he walks into his room somewhat dejectedly. He shucks his shirt, tossing it onto the desk in front of the bed and is about to take off his sweats when there's a soft knock on the door in the wall. Harry walks over to it slowly, his heart thundering in his chest with every step. He thinks he knows what's coming as he opens the door. 

And there he is, standing in a long sleeve shirt and rolled up sweats. "Oh my god." Harry whines, grabbing Louis by the back of the neck and pulling him in for a kiss. Louis' arms go around Harry's neck, and Harry hooks his hands under Louis' legs, pressing them against his hips. He moves back to shut his door and presses Louis against it, grabbing at his thigh with one hand, and placing his palm flat against the wood with the other. 

Louis slides his hands into Harry's still damp curls, pulling on them softly while Harry sucks on his tongue. He pulls away and noses Harry's jaw, kissing his pulse point softly. 

Harry inhales sharply and walks them to the bed, pinning Louis down under him. "Can I give you a hickey?" Harry asks, breathing heavy onto Louis' neck.

"Uh, yeah." Louis nods, and Harry grins. He kisses down Louis' neck and chest, over his shirt, until he gets to the knot of his sweats. He pushes Louis' shirt up with his nose until his hips are visible and kisses his hipbone before sinking his teeth into the tan skin. Louis hisses and tugs on Harry's hair uselessly, until Harry finally pulls away. 

"I didn't mean bite me." Louis pouts, pressing his fingers onto his hip as if checking for blood, and Harry chuckles. 

"Sorry, babe." Harry says, not really meaning it, and leans down to kiss Louis again. And then there's a little voice in his head that goes 'the man has a tattoo on his ass'."Wait, Lou, can I see now?" Harry asks, pulling away and biting his lip nervously. Louis thinks about it for a second before nodding and pushing Harry away with the force of a new born kitten, and getting up on his knees. If Harry was having a hard time breathing before, all hope of air entering his lungs is lost when Louis pulls the waistband of his sweats down about six inches. And sure enough, there is a cake tattooed on Louis' ass. Harry leans forwards to grab Louis' hips and press a soft kiss to the ink, and Louis giggles. Yeah, he's going to turn purple soon, probably.

Louis pulls his sweats back up, much to Harry's dislike, and sits on his ankles. He grabs at Harry's neck and pulls him closer, bumping their noses together before fitting their lips together.

Their kisses move to lazy in a matter of minutes, and Harry can barely keep his eyes open. It's when Harry yawns mid-kiss that Louis calls it a night.

"Sleepy head." Louis says fondly, carding his fingers through Harry's hair, and all Harry can do is shrug. "I'll see you in the morning." Louis whispers, and goes to get out of the bed, but is stopped by Harry wrapping his arms around his waist tighter. "Haz," 

"No, Louis, please stay?" Harry asks, opening his eyes to look up at Louis pleadingly. Louis mulls it over in his mind before finally nodding. 

"Not like anyone can come in, anyways." Louis settles, and reaches over to turn off the light. Harry's chest feels like it's going to burst wide open and leave him with his heart ripe for the picking, but to no use, since Harry's pretty sure Louis has it held between his dainty hands already, anyways.

"Lou?" Harry whispers, and Louis hums his response. "Thank you," Louis asks what for, and Harry smiles. "Staying." He means it in more ways than one, and Louis gets that.

"To be honest I never wanted to leave." Louis mumbles, finding Harry's hand and lacing their fingers together. Harry smiles and nuzzles into Louis' neck, pressing his lips against his skin softly before closing his eyes. 

Harry wakes up alone, and he wants to cry, his side already missing Louis' body. He sits up and rubs his eyes before stretching his arms painfully above his head and swinging his legs off the side of the bed. The doors that connect his and Louis' rooms are open, so he heads that way. Louis' not in bed, and he hears the shower running. He's overwhelmed by the urge to join him, but he decides against it and goes to fix his growing problem in his own shower. 

Twenty minutes later, he walks back into Louis' room and actually finds him there this time. Harry nearly throws himself atop him on the bed, making him huff. 

"Jesus, Harry." Louis chuckles, not bothering to push Harry off, pulling him closer instead. 

"Morning." Harry says, planting a kiss on Louis' lips. "Why didn't you stay in bed?" He asks, frowning. "Missed you." 

Louis smiles and pokes his finger into Harry's cheek. "I needed to--uh, fix something." Louis mutters, and Harry raises an eyebrow. 

"In the shower?" Harry laughs, and Louis presses his lips together in a flat line. And then everything clicks in Harry's brain. "Oh, fuck, yeah." Harry sputters, sitting on his ankles. "I--yeah. Me too." He says somewhat bashfully, and Louis sits up to grab his hands. 

"Whose is this?" Louis asks, pulling at the front of the Wellington shirt Harry's wearing. 

"It's a friend's. He left it in my bag yesterday at the meet." Harry says, and Louis frowns.

"Wear one of mine." Louis says, more a command than a suggestion, and gets off the bed to open his suitcase. Harry laughs and runs his fingers through his hair.

"I don't think any of your shirts will fit me." Harry chuckles and Louis just throws a black one at him. He fully intends on wearing it even if it doesn't fit, because the idea of Louis' clothes on his body just does something to his heart rate. He looks down at it, and sighs. "Well, safe to say no one will believe this is mine, either."

"You should be so lucky to be able to wear that shirt. It's my favorite." Louis add quietly, and Harry feels his heart lurch out of his chest. He nods and pulls the shirt off over his head before pulling Louis' on. It fits, surprisingly. A bit shorter than Harry's used to, but it fits. Harry looks up at Louis, who's looking at him with a soft smile. "See? It does fit." Louis says, and walks up to where Harry's sitting on the bed, nudging his legs apart to stand between them. "I have this lyric tattooed on me, actually." Louis smooths his hand over the words on the shirt, and looks up at Harry.

"Where?" Harry asks, barely a whisper, and Louis grabs his hand. He places it on his left ribcage, and Harry smiles. His fingers slide into the spaces between Louis' ribs, and Harry pulls him in for a kiss. He's developed somewhat of a shadow on his face since the day before, and Harry is so infatuated that it hurts.

"We should go down and get breakfast." Louis decides, and Harry nods. They're about to walk out of the same room, when Louis pauses. "Wait." 

"Yeah," Harry sighs, pressing Louis against the wall for a last kiss, and turning around to leave through his own door. 

They spend breakfast shooting each other secret looks that apparently aren't so secretive, because Niall kicks him under the table. 

"If you don't stop that, I'm cutting your eyes out." He hisses, and Liam laughs into his cup of coffee. 

"Shut up, Niall." Harry grumbles and kicks him back before looking over to Louis, who's smiling while talking to a parent chaperone. Harry wants to throw up when she sees her twirl a piece of hair in her index finger (not to mention the fact that she has a wedding band and is probably somewhere up ten years older than Louis is). 

"Disgusting, the pair of ya." Niall says when he catches Harry smiling involuntarily when Louis looks over at him. "I'm leaving." Niall declares, grabbing a muffin before going back up to his room. 

Harry just sighs and looks over at Liam, who's trying to hold back his laughter as he eats oatmeal. Harry's about to say something when Lucile plants herself in Niall's seat. 

"Morning guys." She says with a smile and rips open a packet of butter. "How was your night?" She asks, spreading a glob of yellow butter onto her bagel. 

"Good." Liam says, nodding and smirking up at Harry.

"Yeah, good." Harry mumbles, casting a look at Louis, who's already looking at him. 

Liam pinches his thigh softly, and Harry rips his gaze back to the table. Lucile starts yammering away about the banquet, but Harry can't bring himself to listen, given that it's around two months away. His attention gets turned back to her when she says Louis' name.

"He made me stay after practice a few days ago and work on my stroke. He knows a lot about breaststroke, did you know that? Also, I've felt him looking over here since I sat down." She says it somewhat smugly, and Liam chokes on his coffee, enough to make it dribble out of the side of his mouth. "What?" She asks, taking a bite of her bagel and looking at Liam quizzically.

"Nothing," Liam coughs, and gives Harry a worried look before wiping his lips with the back of his hand.

"Well it's kind of his job to help swimmers with their strokes." Harry says unceremoniously and stabs at a piece of scrambled egg with his fork. "And yes, I did know, given the fact that he's on the records board." Harry snaps, and Lucile seems to fall into herself.

"Forgot you weren't much of a morning person." She mumbles and takes another bite of her bagel.

Liam gives Harry a disapproving look, and Harry sighs. "Sorry Luce, just tired." He mumbles, and Lucile smiles before reverting back to her old self and rattling off a story that had something to do with someone slipping on deck. 

They're done with breakfast and still have an hour left over before they need to be in the lobby for the bus. Liam suggests they all go to Harry's room, but Harry just shakes his head when he catches Louis' eye in the hall. 

"Sorry guys." Harry says hastily before turning around and nearly sprinting into his room. 

"Tosser!" Niall calls out at him, somehow having appeared again after breakfast--he seems to do that a lot, appear out of thin air--, and Harry just flips him off without thinking about it. 

He nearly rips the door off it's hinges trying to get inside his room. They've kept the connecting doors open since the previous night, so Louis' already on Harry's bed when Harry gets there. Harry wastes no time in straddling Louis' hips and pressing his shoulders into the bed before kissing him. Louis opens his mouth readily and slides his tongue along Harry's while working his hands up his shirt, pressing his fingers into the tight muscles of Harry's back and shoulders. 

"God," Louis sighs when Harry pulls away. "How am I still alive?" Louis asks, and Harry laughs. "Seriously, you're going to be the death of me." Louis says, pulling Harry back down and connecting their lips again. Harry slides his leg between Louis' and presses down softly, making Louis inhale sharply. 

"Ha-rry." Louis moans softly, digging his nails into Harry's back. Harry smirks against Louis' neck and kisses down to his collarbone. He finds a spot that will always be covered by any shirt Louis wears, and sucks on it promptly. He rolls his hips down into Louis' and Louis gasps, pushing him away with shaky hands.

Harry sits back on his feet and frowns at Louis. 

"If we do this now, I will literally not be able to keep my hands off you. And we still have a week of season left." Louis says, sitting up against the headboard, panting. Harry groans and falls face first into the mattress. Louis chuckles and rubs Harry's back. "I know baby, I know." He murmurs, and Harry turns over onto his back. He crawls forwards and fits himself between Louis' legs, and Louis lays back so that Harry's cheek is on his stomach and his arms around his waist. 

"What happens after season?" Harry mumbles." 

"You come over and then we fuck like there's no tomorrow." 

-

"I can't sleep." Harry whispers into his phone, and Louis yawns.

"Maybe you should get off your phone." Louis mumbles thickly, and Harry marvels at his ability to be sassy while half asleep.

"Lou," Harry whines and rolls onto his side. "Seriously, I can't sleep." Harry wonders if he woke Louis up, and he can't help but feel a little prick of happiness in knowing that Louis actually picked up the phone.

"Baby," Louis says, and Harry preens at that. "Just, I dunno, think sleepy things. Like cute sleepy puppies or sheep." Louis suggests, and Harry giggles.

"I just feel very alone in my house." Harry says, and it's true, because his mum and stepdad went away for the weekend, so it's just him. Well, him and the cat, but Amber won't deign herself to make an appearance in Harry's room.

"Pretend I'm there." Louis mumbles, and Harry smiles. "My arms around your waist..."

"Mmmm." Harry mumbles, and closes his eyes.

"M'lips on your neck, our legs tangled together." Louis continues, and Harry bites his lip.

"Are you naked?" Harry asks, and Louis chokes. "Cos I am. I mean, like, should I imagine you naked?" Harry asks, and there's static over the phone.

"No," Louis says carefully. "I'm in sweats."

"Right." Harry says, and pulls his extra pillow down so he can wrap his arms around it.

"Better?" Louis asks, and Harry nods. "Goodnight, love." Louis murmurs, and Harry smiles into the pillow.

"Stay?" Harry asks through a yawn, his eyelids already feeling heavier, and he thinks Louis says yes, but all he remembers is falling asleep to the sound of Louis breathing.

-

Harry has so much energy coursing through his body at States that he comes first in both of his individual events, and breaks the school record for the two hundred free. Coach Adams, having returned the day before, pulls Harry into a tight hug once he steps of the podium with shaky legs, gold medal hanging proudly off his neck, saying something about always having faith in him. 

"I knew you could do it." Coach says, patting Harry's back again. "I am so proud of you." Harry thinks there's tears in his eyes, but Coach looks away before Harry can make sure. 

"Thank you." Harry says, and he feels himself choking up. "For everything." He manages, blinking furiously. Coach just smiles at him, and Harry goes to hug his mom and stepdad. He talks to Gemma over FaceTime quickly, too. He notices Louis watching fondly from farther off, and all Harry wants to do is run into his arms and kiss him. But he holds back when Niall and Liam crush him with simultaneous hugs, and the rest of the team pats him on the back. Lucile doesn't find herself above kissing Harry on the cheek, and Harry just stands there. 

"Awkward." Niall mumbles under his breath before walking away. Harry just laughs and smiles at Lucile before walking back to the tent. He grabs a sweatshirt and pulls it over his head. He feels something nudge his foot, and he looks up. 

"Good job." Louis whispers, looking down at his clipboard. 

"Thank you." Harry says, not able to control his smile. 

"So," Louis says, looking up at him finally. They're alone, relatively. This is normal, a coach and a swimmer having a conversation. If Harry can resist the urge to kiss him right then and there. "Team dinner is at seven." Louis states, looking at his watch. "That's about two hours, if we leave now." Louis says, and Harry can feel his lungs constricting in his chest. 

"Okay." He chokes out, and Louis smiles up at him before walking away. Harry groans loudly, turning on his heels to go and make up an excuse for not coming home to his mom. 

One elaborately planned lie later, Harry's sitting in his car, waiting for Louis to send him an address. He wastes no time typing it into his GPS before typing back a quick 'omw' with a tongue emoji at the end and throwing his phone into the back seat.

Harry doesn't waste any time when he gets to Louis' place. He knocks on the door once, and waits for it to open. He's not embarrassed at all of the semi he's sporting because the fact remains that he's been gagging for it since the day they met. As soon as Harry sees Louis in the doorway, they're kissing.

Louis makes a soft noise of surprise before sliding his hand into Harry's hair and stumbling backwards. Harry shuts the door behind him with his foot and turns them around so he can press Louis against the door. He runs his hands down Louis' chest and slides one under his shirt, feeling his skin break out in goosebumps at his touch. He pulls it off over his head and throws it somewhere behind them. Louis tugs at his hair softly while sliding his tongue into Harry's mouth, and it's a miracle Harry is still standing, really. Harry undoes Louis' jean's and pulls away from his mouth to kiss down his neck, pausing to nip softly at his jugular. Harry slides his hands down Louis' hips to his thighs, where he grabs as much fabric as he can, and pulls down firmly. Louis makes a little noise in the back of his throat and Harry drops to his knees.

He gives Louis a smirk before biting the elastic of his briefs and pulling it far enough away to get his fingers under it, and pulls them down to where his jeans are pooled around his ankles. Louis' cock is up against his stomach, and Harry can't wait to get his mouth on it, but Louis' legs demand his attention. Harry grabs at Louis' thighs, his fingers sliding into the dips between muscles, and leans forward to suck a mark onto the softer part of Louis' leg. Louis whimpers while Harry licks up his thigh and to his hip, where he bites skin softly. Louis sighs and grabs a handful of Harry's curls, his other hand pressing against the door in an attempt to stabilize his dangerously shaking legs. Harry gives him a quick look up before kneading his thumbs into Louis' thighs and pressing a flat lick up the underside of Louis' cock, making him moan and pull on Harry's hair. He wraps his lips around the head and presses his tongue up, leaning forwards to take all of Louis' length into his mouth. Louis gasps and leans his head back as far as it will go against the wood. 

"Fuck, Harry." Louis whines as Harry works his lips around his cock. Louis can't breathe, he actually can't. Harry's hand is on his hip now, pressing him firmly against the door so his hips don't buck, and his other is wrapped around the back of Louis' thigh. "Oh," He moans, and tugs on Harry's hair sharply, making his head yank backwards. Harry pulls off, making a show of hollowing his cheeks and letting his lips make a 'pop' before looking up at Louis sweetly. Yeah, Louis' going to pass out from the way Harry's lips are cherry red, and the fact that there's a string of precome off his lips. 

"Good?" He asks, not waiting for Louis' answer, before wrapping his hand around the base of Louis' cock, moving his wrist languidly while sucking on what his hand can't cover. Louis can't really make words at the moment, so he just nods though Harry can't see him. He can feel his stomach twitching, and it shouldn't take this little to get him going, but Harry's mouth is really big and it seems he's been graced with no gag reflex. Which he puts to good use by returning his hand to Louis' hip and deep throating him like it's his job.

"So good, fucking hell, Harry." Louis whines, not being able to resist the jerk of his hips. He can feel the back of Harry's throat, but Harry's not swayed at all by it. Louis can't help but think that he'll have a sore throat later. The thought goes away when Harry presses his thumb into Louis' thigh.

Louis looks down at him, panting. Harry takes his time in dragging his lips back off Louis' cock. "Come on my face." He says, his voice already scratchy, and Louis whimpers. He bites his lip and shakes his head, not really wanting to deal with having to wipe Harry's face off before actually fucking him. "Please?" Harry asks, actually sounding upset at the fact that Louis disagreed, and pushes his bottom lip out.

"Okay, fuck, okay whatever you want baby." Louis says, nodding frantically, and Harry beams up at him before wrapping his lips around the head of Louis' cock. Louis' breath hitches in the back of his throat, and he presses his fingers down into Harry's scalp. Harry's purring practically, and it's overwhelming, really. "Fuck," Louis breathes shakily, and there's an unbearable ache in the pit of his stomach. He pulls at Harry's hair and nudges his chest with his knee as best as he can, and Harry takes the hint. He pulls off and wraps his hand around Louis' cock, and opens his mouth, looking up at Louis with an expectant flutter of his eyelashes. Louis groans and inhales sharply--and then there's come on Harry's cheeks and eyelashes. Harry smiles and sucks on Louis' cock until Louis' hissing and pushing him away with shaking hands. Harry smiles up at him, all sticky white cheeks and swollen lips, and Louis whimpers. He pulls his briefs back up before sinking down onto the floor and kicking his jeans completely off. He grabs at Harry's shoulder and pulls him forwards to kiss him softly. "Where the fuck did you come from?" Louis mumbles, running his fingers through Harry's hair softly.

Harry giggles and wipes off his cheeks, sucking the remainder of Louis' come off his fingers before settling between Louis' legs and kissing his neck. "You can go again right?" Harry rasps, nibbling on Louis' collarbone.

Louis inhales sharply and nods. "Yeah, fuck, give me like, three minutes." Louis says shakily, and he feels Harry smile against his neck.

"Good," Harry mumbles, grabbing at Louis' hips. "I want you to fuck me so hard I can't walk right." Harry breathes, biting on Louis' ear. "I want you to leave scratches on my thighs and bruises on my hips." Harry purrs, and Louis whimpers. "Can you do that?" Harry asks, tilting his head to the side, and Louis nods. He grabs onto Harry's neck and kisses him hard enough to have him on his back. Louis' half-hard from Harry's little spiel, and he wastes no time in grinding down into Harry.

"Bed, now." Louis mumbles, biting on Harry's neck.

Harry whines, "Can't you just fuck me right now?"

Louis laughs and pulls away to push Harry's curls off his forehead. "On the floor? No, love, it's dirty and it'll hurt your back." Louis says, kissing Harry's nose before standing up and pulling him up too.

"Semantics." Harry grumbles and wraps his arms around Louis' waist, succeeding in them waddling to the bedroom while Harry sucks a mark onto the rise of Louis' neck.

Louis manages to pin Harry down on the bed again, and nearly rip his shirt off his body. "So pretty." He mumbles, kissing down Harry's chest. "So lovely." He says, tracing the lines of Harry's abs with his tongue. Harry's hands tighten in the comforter, and Louis pulls the knot of his sweats loose with his teeth. Harry lets out a little puff of air as Louis smooths his hand down Harry's thighs, pushing his sweats off. "Going commando, I see." Louis says, grinning up at Harry. Harry just nods lamely, and Louis fits himself between Harry's legs, nudging him up the bed so that his feet are flat against the mattress. Louis spreads Harry's legs farther apart, taking a second to run his hands over the smooth, milkiness of Harry's thighs. He leans forwards to press a kiss onto the rise of his thigh, and his lips taste vanilla and chlorine. Must've been the lotion he used after he shaved, Louis thinks.

Louis runs his hands up Harry's thighs and onto his hips before kissing up Harry's inner thighs and pressing a soft lick to Harry's hole. Harry makes a noise somewhere between a gasp and a moan, and he arches his back up off the bed. He can feel Louis' scruff biting into his thighs, and his nails digging into his hips, and he knows wearing jeans will be very uncomfortable tomorrow (he doesn't really care, though). Harry lets out a shaky breath and Louis grabs at his hips, pushing them sideways so he can get his tongue in deeper. Harry feels a little like a pretzel, with his leg pressed over his hips and onto the bed. Louis grabs at Harry's bum and presses his thumbs into the perky flesh. Harry whines and closes his eyes, feeling Louis kiss and bite around his inner thighs and back.

"Lou," Harry whimpers, and Louis looks up at him. "I--" Harry starts to say, but Louis knows what he wants, and points at the drawer of the night stand. Harry nearly lunges for it and holds up the bottle of lube triumphantly. Louis smiles and takes it from him, popping the cap open and drizzling it onto his fingers. "You've used it?" Harry asks, noticing how the bottle is definitely not new.

Louis snorts and puts the bottle down. "Yes, I had a lot of fun with myself and that lube since you thought it would be a good idea to basically deep throat a banana before practice." Louis says, and Harry blushes. Louis just rolls his eyes playfully and rubs his fingers around Harry's already slicked hole lazily. Harry inhales sharply when Louis presses his fingers inside to the second digit, and spreads them apart slowly.

"Fuck," Harry whimpers and presses himself back onto Louis' fingers desperately. Louis chuckles and holds a hand to Harry's hips, pressing down onto the bed so he can't move. Louis pushes his fingers in farther, and pulls them in and out slowly. "L--" Harry starts, but gets cut off by a loud moan that rips out of his throat when Louis' fingers brush his prostate. Louis grins wickedly and slides his fingers in completely, keeping them straight so that they're touching Harry's spot but not enough to stimulate. "Oh, oh, Louis, please oh--" Harry begs, giving Louis a pained look over his shoulder. Louis bites his lip and curls his fingers inwards, pressing against Harry's prostate softly. "Yes, fuck," Harry moans, his eyes screwed shut. Louis presses down harder, and Harry yelps. He grabs Louis' hand and moves it from his hip to his stomach, motioning for Louis to press down. Louis doesn't understand, until he does so, and he watches as a shiver courses through Harry's body. "It--you're pr-essing down and your f-fingers are p-pressing up-p." He says brokenly and Louis gasps in realization. He manages to get Harry's leg over his shoulder so that he can put more pressure down onto his stomach, and presses simultaneously. "Oh my--" Harry whines, clutching onto Louis' wrist.

"Louis, Lou, fuck me. Oh fuck, please, fuck me." Harry begs, looking at Louis with watery eyes, and yeah Louis can do that. Louis' bewildered at Harry's responsiveness, and makes a note to get him to talk like this more often. He pulls his fingers out and wipes them on the throw before reaching into the already open drawer and fishing out a condom. Harry frowns at him, and Louis sighs because he knows exactly where this is going.

They've had the conversation before--kind of. Albeit unintentionally. It just so happened that Louis read through Harry's physical, and it told him all he needed to know. It slipped out during a phone call that ended in Louis hanging up and having a very guilty wank about it. He's only human.

"Why can't you just, come inside me?" Harry whines, and Louis nearly chokes.

"Because we have to go to dinner afterwards, and you don't have underwear, and I'm not going to let you sit there with come dripping down your leg." Louis says, hoping that'll be the end of the conversation before he actually like, dies, and sits back on his ankles.

"But I want to," Harry pouts and Louis groans.

"You're going to kill me, you know that?" Louis says, and Harry grins up at him. "Not tonight, love." Harry just sighs and frowns at Louis, who pats his thigh lovingly before ripping the foil packet open and rolling on the condom. He grabs the lube and spreads it over his cock, hissing at the contact. He's actually genuinely worried that he's going to come within two seconds of being inside Harry, because he's already so worked up from just listening to Harry moan. "How..." Louis starts, squeezing his hand around the base of his cock.

"I don't care. Fuck me upside down if you want to." Harry says, and Louis sighs.

"You're quite impossible, you know that?" Louis laughs before lining himself up with Harry, and pressing the tip in slowly.

Harry whimpers and tries to push back, aching for more, but Louis places a hand on his hip to still him, and presses in slowly, giving Harry time to adjust. Harry sighs when Louis' cock is completely inside him, and reaches for Louis' neck, pulling him down for a kiss. Louis smiles onto his lips and runs his fingers over Harry's hipbones. He grabs Harry's leg and hooks it over his waist, and begins to move slowly. Harry whimpers and digs his nails into Louis' shoulders.

"Oh," Harry moans and works his hips back into Louis' thrusts. "Fuck, feel so good." Harry nearly cries, and Louis bites on his jaw softly. "Faster, oh, fuck me faster." Harry moans and Louis thinks his lungs stop working there. He fucks into Harry faster, and he can see the effect it has on the boy, because his whole body is covered in a film of sweat, and his eyes are screwed shut.

"Look at me," Louis nearly growls and Harry's eyes fly open immediately. Louis presses a kiss that's more teeth onto Harry's swollen lips before straightening his arms out so he can move easier. He lifts Harry's leg over his shoulder and fucks deeper into him, so that his hips are hitting Harry's bum.

"Oh," Harry groans, arching his back up off the bed. "Don't stop, fuck." Harry whimpers, and Louis wants to fuck him into oblivion.

Louis slows down, moving his hips in tiny increments, dragging his cock against Harry's prostate at a maddening rate. Harry whines desperately and presses his thumb into Louis' hip. Louis presses a kiss to his thigh and leans over to suck a bruise onto Harry's neck. Harry thinks he's going to pass out from the build up happening inside him, but he can't get his tongue to make words. "Please," Harry finally chokes out and works his hips back into Louis.

"Please what?" Louis teases, pinching Harry's nipple softly.

"Please fuck me faster before I die." Harry says, and Louis snorts.

"So demanding." Louis mutters, grabbing Harry's hip and pressing his thumb into the bone hard enough to leave a bruise.

"Please, please I've been so good, please." Harry pleads, his eyes watering, and Louis feels a pang in his stomach and he gives in. Harry moans loudly when Louis slams back into him, making the headboard hit the wall hard enough to make Louis worry about it's entirety. Harry grabs at Louis' shoulders and pulls him down to kiss him messily. Louis moans softly and slides his hand under Harry's head, and presses his tongue against Harry's. Harry's digging his nails into Louis' back, dragging them down to his hips, leaving scratches along his spine. "I'm--" Harry whines, and Louis shuts him up with another kiss. Harry whimpers into Louis' mouth when Louis wraps his hand around Harry's cock, moving his wrist slowly. "Fucking shit."

"Shhh," Louis murmurs, kissing Harry's neck. "I've got you, love." He says, running his thumb over Harry's cock head, spreading the precome already there. "Come for me, sweet heart." Harry gasps and there's so much pressure inside him, and Louis' hand is still pumping his cock, and it's just so much that he can't help but come into Louis' hand with a yelp.

Louis fucks Harry through until he comes into the condom and nearly collapses onto Harry. He inhales deeply and pulls out, making quick work of tying the condom off and dropping it into the bin next to the night stand before turning back over to Harry and pulling him into his side. Harry's eyes are closed, and wet around the edges from tears, and he's still breathing heavy. Louis is so in love with him.

"You're not leaving me now, right?" Harry asks, his voice still shaking while Louis ghosts his fingers over his hips.

"Of course not, love." Louis says softly, "Hey, baby, look at me." Louis presses a hiss onto Harry's shoulder, and Harry turns his head to look up at Louis. "I'm pretty sure I'm like, incredibly in love with you. So no, I am not leaving." Louis says, and Harry actually starts crying.

"I'm here. I'll be here." Louis murmurs, running his fingers through Harry's hair. "I love you and I'm not leaving."

"I love you, too." Harry says, and Louis smiles while wiping his cheeks. "Too much for my own good, probably." Harry mumbles and wraps his arm around Louis' neck, nuzzling into his chest so that he's nearly on top of him. Louis doesn't mind.

"This isn't your house, is it?"

"No, it's a friend's. How on earth did you figure that out?" Louis asks, bewildered at the change of subject. Harry just points at a picture on the dresser of Stan with his sister, and Louis laughs. "Yeah, um, when Coach called me about the job, I had to ask Stan to go cover me at my job and it worked out perfectly, actually. He's staying in my flat currently."

"Where'd you work before?" Harry asks, trailing his fingers over Louis' collarbone.

"I did marketing for a company in Pennsylvania. Stan and I are friends with the owner, so it wasn't a big deal with the switching. We all went to college together." 

"Which one?" Harry asks, his interest immediately peaked at the mention of Pennsylvania.

"Penn State." Louis mumbles it as if he's embarrassed, and Harry's mouth dropped. "Oh stop that." Louis says with a roll of his eyes.

"But Lou, it's Penn State!" Harry says excitedly.

"I know, but I don't want to talk about it, alright? It makes me feel like an asshole." Louis mutters darkly, and Harry sighs. 

"Babe, be proud of your alma matter." Harry says, propping himself up on his elbow so he's above Louis. "And I think it's incredibly cool, and I'm amazed that you haven't talked about it before." Louis rolls his eyes, and Harry laughs. He presses a soft kiss to Louis' lips. "You know, Drexel's given me an offer. I'm supposed to go up on a trip in February." Harry says, falling back onto the bed and picking at the edge of the sheets.

"That's amazing, darling." Louis says, grabbing the back of Harry's neck and pressing their foreheads together. "You're taking it, yeah?"

"It's pretty much a full ride...I was between them and UF, but I think I'm leaning to be a dragon rather than a gator." Harry says, and Louis beams at him.

"I love you." Louis says, and kisses Harry's nose.

"I love you too." Harry says, and nestles himself farther into Louis' side.

"We should go, if we want to make dinner." Louis says, checking the time reluctantly.

"Can't we skip it? Stay here, fall asleep together?" Harry asks sleepily, and the idea of Harry sleeping in the same bed as Louis nearly sways him.

"As good as that sounds, I'm sure Coach is going to miss his star swimmer." Louis says, and presses a kiss to Harry's forehead. Harry just sighs and rolls over onto Louis' hips and presses his hands into the mattress next to Louis' head and leans over to kiss him, hard.

"We have twenty minutes." Harry says, biting on Louis' bottom lip. "Think you can make me come in twenty minutes?" Harry asks, and rolls his hips down into Louis'. "Will you come inside me this time?" Harry asks, with an illegally innocent flutter of his eyelashes.

"You insatiable horny bastard." Louis growls, but doesn't disagree.

So they're late to dinner, and Harry has to borrow a pair of briefs from Louis. But it's not really a big deal since two other people are too. Niall noticed Harry's limp and laughs so hard water actually shoots out his nose. Harry frowns and pushes him off his chair before sitting down across Louis and wrapping his foot around his sharp ankle. Louis smiles into his menu, and Harry is so in love he feels like he's going to faint. And yeah, they'll figure it out.

**Author's Note:**

> the very first paragraph is based off this quote:  
> "Swimming is a confusing sport, because sometimes you do it for fun, and other times you do it to not die. And when I’m swimming, sometimes I’m not sure which one it is."-Demetri Martin.
> 
> The title is from "Is There Somewhere//Halsey"  
> I switched up some of the tattoos and birthdays to fit the story line too :)
> 
> thanks for reading this far lmao love u all


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